Car-door.



F. A. LESTER.

CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30.1914.

Patented Oct. 2,1917.

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CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. I914.

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CAR DOOR.

APPIJCATION FILED NOV. 30, 19M. 1,242,000. Patented 001.2,1917.

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F. A. LESTER.

CAR DOOR. APPLICATION FILED NOV- 30. 1914.

Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

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FREDERICK A. LESTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO STANDARD EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 0on2, tori.

Application filed November 30, 1914. Serial No. 874,640.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. LESTER, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements" in Car Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part gravitate through the restricted discharge opening thus provided between the door and doorway frame, together with novel means for retracting the door its new position.

Another object of my invention is to provide means cooperating with the door to define the limits of this movement. A further object is the provision of novel locking and fastening devices adapted to co-act with the said door and saidretracting means for maintaining the door in its normal closed position. A still further object of my inand supporting it in vention is to provide an improved and efli-' cient construction of grain door wicket gate which permits ready access to the interior of the car, and which is constructed and arranged with reference to the door to prevent leakage into or out of the car.

These, together with such other objects as may hereinafter appear, or are incident to my invention, I attain by means of a construction illustrated in preferred form, as shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a sec-.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a car section showing the door when moved clear of the doorway opening;

Fig. 4cis an enlarged view in perspective of a portion of the fastening and sealing means as shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. '5 represents an enlarged sectional view showing the arrangement of parts at the track beam above the doorway opening, The door illustrated in the drawings is of the type designed not only for the purpose of grain transportation but is further adapted for use in connection with ordinary freight service. of this character to provide a grain-wicket or door at or near its lower end portion, which, when the car is spotted at the chute of agrain elevator, is opened to initially discharge that grain which presses against the door. This grain discharge is not only to a great extent uncontrolled, but is frequently spasmodic in character due to the packing or settling of the grain against the door above the wicket which packing was not'materially affected by' the initial movement of grain from the vicinity of'the wicket. It is the principal'aim of this invention to pro vide a door which may be slightly retracted to loosen up the grain which has thus packed against it in transit and which at the same time controls the stream of grain discharge and guides the same in a downward instead of a lateral direction; It will be understood that subsequent to this initial discharge of the grain from the vicinity of the door, the latter is then moved longitudinally of the car to full open position, thus permitting the employment of the usual grain scoops to unload' the balance of the load.

9 composed of one or more metal sheets,

a, b, 0, reinforced or connected bythe vertical Z bars 10 and such'equivalent members as the angle bars'11,'12, 13,- 14, the former being disposed at each side margin thereof and the latter extending horizontally across the front face of the door body 9 intermediately of the middle flanges orlegs 10 of the Z-bars 10 which restup against opposing side faces of the door posts. Y

It is customary in a door Referring now more particularly to Figs.

3 and 5, it will be seen that I provide a guide track 15 upon which the door body is loosely hung for longitudinal movement to open and close'the doorway opening 13, and also as already indicated, for slight lateral movement away from the doorway opening and its frame. This track is secured to the beam 8 to extend inwardly in a spaced relation underneath it, the door body 9 in turn being formed with a flange or hanger member 16 which projects outwardly into the space between the track and beam to rest upon a set of interposed anti-friction balls 17 carried by the track and held away from contact with each other by the stop lugs 18 provided at suitable intervals on and at the terminals of the inner face of the said hanger. The full lines in Fig. clearly disclose the relation of these members when the door is in normal closed position, and the dotted lines at a time when the door has been laterally n'iovedt-o its other limiting position, each of the track and hanger members being formed w th oppos ng flanges 15 and 16 at their mar inal ed es for the i 23 O purpose of retaining the balls in their race. When in normal closed position the door lies flush or substantiall r so with the sub ing, and as shown in the preferred construction the door body portion 9 is in relief with reference to its oppositely extending flange portions 10" which take against the outer face of the door posts 7 to limit inward movement and to maintain the verticality of the door when closed. This arrangement furthermore provides a tight joint between U the door and door-posts, effectually overcoming any possibility of leakage between the meeting faces of these members.

An important feature of my invention res sides in the means for laterally retracting the door from its locked closed position in Fig. 1 to the partially open position shown in F 2 where said means also serves to support the door in its new posit-ion. With this in view, I provide at lever device which is carried by the door and movably fu crumed to one sit e thereof said device preferably comprising a lever bar 19 of V-shape having oppositely extending arms 20 horizontally mounted for rotative movement in bearings 20 suitably provided on the reinforcingbar 12, and angular extensions or look bars 21 which normally extend in an upward direction to have a. locking engage.- ment with the keepers 22. The latter are disposed at each side of the doorway opening, and have their base portions 22 mounted on the siding and against which the cam shaped ends 22 of the bars slidably engage When-the lever bar 19 is raised to retract the door, as will be clearly understood from an inspection of the drawings.

Secured to the siding and confronting the lower door angle bar 11 is a pairof door brackets 23, each having an upstanding lug 2 3 apprec ably removed from the plane of the door to permit the swinging jaw 23" which is hinged to the bracket to wedge in between the lug and the outstanding door flange 11. I also provide a fastening and sealing device for the door and lever bar 10, preferably embodying an upper T-shaped member 2 1- pivotally mounted on the door below its center of gravity at 24%, and intermediately of the divergent arms of the bar, and a lower slotted bar member movable upon a pin 25 carried by the door and formed with an offset tongue 25 be low its slot. Both of these members are formed at their inner ends with lock lugs perforated to receive the seal 2-6.

With the door positioned as shown in Fig. 1, the tongue 25" extends over the apex 19 of the lever bar 19 and thence preferably through an offset portion 11 ofthe lower bar to terminally engage in an aperture 27 formed in the threshold plate 27", as is best shown in Fig. i. The door may further, if desired, be provided with av side bracket 28. which is designed to take against the stop member 29 on the siding when the door is slidably moved longitudinally of the car from its extreme open position (Fig. to the closed position shown in Fig. 1.

In the upper portion of the door body 9 and intermediately of the plate Z) and 0, I provide a wicket opening C so as to furnish access to the carinterior for purposes of grain inspection and for the insertion therethrough of the usual grain loading spouts. This opening is preferably bounded by the horizontal bars 13 and 1% and the associated vertical angle bars 30, 30 carried by the side bars 10. To close this opening I provide a closure or wicket gate therefor comprising the upper and lower flanged door sections 31-, 32, respectively hingedly mounted upon the outstanding flanges of the bars 13 and let to swing in opposing directions from a position clear of the opening to closed position where their inner marginal flanges 58 have a tight joint with each other and their side flanges 23% and outer flanges 35 with the flanges of the door that define the wicket opening, as in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The lower section 32, is held closed on its seat 13 by chained hooks 36 which pass through the side flanges 30 and 3 1;-the upper and lower door sections being normally connected together by the chained hook 3,7 which alsov serves to maintain the former when raised to its open position.

The operation of the door is substantially as follows: The car beingspotted at the grain chute indicated at D in Fig. 2, and the seal 26 broken, the upper fastening member 24: is swung to the position shown in Fig. 2 permitting the lever bar 19 to be raised after the slotted member 25; and'the hinged jaws 23 of the brackets have been first moved into clear.

The upward swinging movement of the bar initially withdraws the lock bars 21 out of their normal looking engagement with the keepers, 22 and then through their cam action against the keeper bases laterally retract the door to theposition shown in Fig. 2 where it abuts the bracket lugs 23, and in which new position it is supported by the lock bars 21, whereupon the grain in the vicinity of the door having been loosened by this change in position it discharges downwardly under complete control of the door into the chute D. The full extent of clearance is mainly determined by the degree of outward movement permitted the door hanger 16 at the top, and the distance lying between the lugs 23 and the vertical flange of the bar 11. After this initial unloading operation, the door is moved to the fullest extent of its opening movement (Fig. 3) to permit the employment of the usual grain-scoops. l/Vhen in this position the lever bar is depressed to bring one of the lock barsinto engagement with a keeper 38.

From the foregoing, it will be further apparent that when closed the door is securely locked and fastened not only by the lock bars 21 and tongue 25 but also by the hinged bracket jaws 23 and that when the grain line in the car iscarried up higher than the bar 13 the lower door section 32 may be kept closed,-necessitating only the use of theupper section 31 for purposes of grain inspection. The entire construction is simple and efficient, and is totally lacking in the use of numerous or involved operating parts, which are liable to be lost or of a character involving constant repair or replacement.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following 1. In a railway freight and grain car, the combination with the doorway frame and its opening, of a combined grain door and chute for said opening 'pivotally suspended along its upper end from said frame, door engaging closure means mounted on said frame for maintaining the door closed in said opening, said door subject to load pressure and capable of substantially swinging movement in an outward direction away from said opening to a grain unloading position wholly confronting said opening, whereby to provide a clearance between the lower edge portion of the door and the threshold portion of the frame throughout the width of the opening, said closure means movable to disengage the door and permit movement of. the same from its closed position to grain unloading position, and a door holding means carried by said frame and constructed and arranged to define said.

clearance and to hold said door in its grain unloadmg position, the lower portion of said door servlng as a grainchute for dlrecting the downward discharge of the grain through said clearance.

2. In a railway freight and grain-car, the combination with the doorway frame and opening, of a combined grain door and chute normally closing said opening and movably suspended along its upper end from said frame, a retracting member mounted horizontally on said door below said upper end and operatively engaging with its ends side portions of said frame, said member capable of outwardly retracting the door to grain unloading position whereby to provide a clearance between the.lower edge of the door and the threshold portion of the frame throughout the width of the opening, said door subject to load pressure from within the car, a door holding means comprising bracket members constructed and arranged to hold said door in its grain unloading position and to define said clearance, the lower portion of the door being solid and serving carried by said bracket and adapted to 00- cupy a door engaging position intermediately between the door and said lug, sub- 1 stantially as and for the purpose set forth. In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

. FREDERICK A. LESTER. Witnesses: 1

FRANK JAGER, W. HERBERT FOWKES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

